Tool-post.



PATENTED Mini 22, 1906.

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TOOL POST.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 14, 1905. v

ANDREW. B. GRAHAM m, Puomumoamwuzns, WASHWGTON. D c.

H x $47 7M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM T. SLIDER, or INDIANAPoLIs, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE HALF TO BENJAMlN A. BROWN, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

TOOL-POST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. May 22, 1906.

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. SLIDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Tool-Posts, of which the following is a specification.

The Obj ect of mysaid invention is to produce a convenient and easily-operated tool-post capable of numerous adjustments and adapted for use with a variety of machines, such as shapers, planers, slotters, &c.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a tool-post embodying my said invention of a form suitable to be used with that variety of machine having a vertically-reciprocating stroke known as a slotter, although it is easily adapted. to other machines, and I desire to be understood as claiming it in connection with any machine with which it is capable of being used. v

Figure 1 is a front elevation of such a toolpost; Fig. 2, a side elevation; Fig. 3, a central vertical sectional view at the point indicated by the dotted line 3 3 in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a similar view at the point indicated by the dotted line 4 4 in Fig. 2, except that the upper end of the middle portion is shown in elevation to illustrate the conical contacting surfaces; Figs. 5 and 6, horizontal sectional views as seen when looking downwardly from the dotted lines 5 5 and 6 6, respectively, in Fig. 1; and Fig. 7, a detail view similar to a portion. of Fig. 3, but on an enlarged scale.

The body of my improved tool-post is com posed of three sections 21, 31, and 41. The portion 21 is tubular in form and is rigidly secured to the ram or head of the machine with which it is used. I have shown a fragment R of such a ram, and the part 21 is immediately connected thereto by clamping-brackets 22 and 23, which are secured to the ram by bolts 24 and 25. Annular grooves 26 are formed at suitable intervals in the part 21, and corresponding perforations 27 are formed in the clamping-collars to receive pins 28, which (when inserted in said perforations) engage with such of the annular grooves in the part 21 as the adjustment permits. I provide several of these annular grooves and am thus enabled to adjust the tool-post to several different positions relatively to the ram or head to which the tool-post is attached without danger of having the tool-post slip or drop out of position when the clamps are loosened. This also insures the tool-post against the possibility of pushing up when the tool is doing heavy duty. 1 also may (and preferably do) provide a clamping-collar 29 above one of the clamping-brackets, which will prevent the tool-post from dropping out of position when the pins 28 are withdrawn or not in use. The tool-post orilices in the clamping-brackets 22 and 23 are formed to fit closely (but not tightly) onto the surface of the part 21. They are slitted on one side, as at s, so that as the clampingbolts 25 are drawn up the tool-post will be clamped tightly in said clamps, and thus held firmly to adjusted position. When the bolts 25 are loosened, the tool-post can be adjusted about its own axis, and by withdrawing the pins 28 the tool-post can be adjusted vertically, and by means of the bolts 25 it can be clamped in any of its adjusted positions and held rigidly and firmly to the ram or head of'the machine to which it is attached.

As before stated, the part 21 is in the form of a sleeve or hollow shaft. This sleeve is adapted to receive and carry the stem 32 to the part 31. Said stem is screw-threaded at its upper end and adapted to receive anut 33, and a washer 34 is preferably interposed between said nut and the upper end of the part 21. The adjacent shoulders of the two parts 21 and 31 where they come together are respectively concave and convex, as is best shown in Fig. 4, so that one will fit within the other in such a manner that when they are drawn tightly together by means of the nut 33 they will be securely held against lateral movement in respect to each other irrespective of anylooseness which may exist between the stem 32 and the perforation in the part 21, into which said stem enters. By means of the construction just described the part 31 may be swiveled to any positionv desired, so that the cutting-tool may extend in any di rection from the vertical axial line of the tool post, and thus be easily adapted to operate upon previously-positioned surfaces of the work which is carried by the table of the machine without disturbing the adjustment of the part 21. If it is found necessary, the concave and convex surfaces may be suitably serrated or roughened in order to hold them securely against slipping.

The parts 31 and 21 bear gage-marks where they come together, so that when the part 31 is swiveled (in the manner above stated) it can be brought to any predetermined position relative to the part 21 as may be indicated by such gage-marks. One of these marks extends the whole length of the part 21, and there is a corresponding mark on an adjacent surface of the clamping-bracket 23, and when these marks are together the toolpost is in position so that the work can be squared up and properly positioned thereby, a portion of said tool-post near the lower end being squared for a certain distance, as shown, so that this can be done. I have found by experience that it is much less work to thus adjust or position the work than it is to adjust or position it from the table of the machine.

The lower member 41 of my improved toolpost is connected to the part 31 by means of a horizontal pivot 43, embodied in what may be termed a limited-movement rule-joint, as will be presently described. It is adapted to receive and carry the cutting-tool 51, which is shown as secured in position by means of a tapered key 52 and a clampingscrew 53, (one or both.) By preference I use both and may (and in the case of large tools preferably do) use two of the clampingscrews, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

As before stated, the two parts 41 and 31 are connected by a variety of rule-joint. The part 31 is bifurcated, its lower end terminating in two members 37 and 38, and the part 41 has a tongue 42, which extends up between said two members. As best shown in Fig. 3., this tongue extends up higher at one side than the other, and the highest portion provides a shoulder by means of which the movement of the part 41 on the pivot-bolt 43 is controlled. Opposite this extended or shoulder portion is a screw 35, mounted in the part 31, the inner end of which extends toward the shoulder in question. A spring 36 surrounds this bolt and is interposed between the shoulder on the part 42 and a shoulder on the bolt. The design is to have the construction such as to be rigid in one direction while capable of yielding in the other under ordinary conditions. The pivot 43, it is to be noted, is to one side of the center, so that the square shoulders 39 and 49 of the .joint are ofconsiderable area and are thus able to firmly resist the thrust ofthe tool when cutting and also afford a suflicient surface so that the wear on said shoulders is very slight. may be reduced to a minimum, I prefer to make the contacting surfaces case-hardened. The shoulders on the opposite side of the pivot are tapered or separated somewhat in stead of coming exactly together, so that the member 41 of the tool-post may have room to swing backward slightly on its return stroke, thus avoiding heavy contact of the In order that this wear point of the cutting-tool with the work on such return strokes. This, as will be readily understood by those accustomed to the use of such tools, is a matter of considerable importance, as it avoids both the marring of the work and the injury of the cutting edge of the tool consequent upon such contact wear permitted and also the strain upon the machine which results from such forcible contact. The force of the cutting operation will while the cutting is progressing keep the shoulders 39 and 49 in close forcible contact. As before indicated, the operation of the spring 36 is to quickly but not strongly throw the part 41 (carrying the tool) back into its working position as soon as the tool escapes from the work on its return or idle stroke. The tension of this spring may be conveniently and accurately adjusted by simply turning the screw 35 on which it is mounted. There are some cases where entire rigidity of the tool-post is desirable, and where this condition is desirable I secure it by driving home the screw 35 tightly until its point bears firmly against the shoulder on the member 42.

In order that there shall be no undesirable projections on my tool-post, I countersink the bifurcated lower ends of the'part '31 on Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to second part having a stem which enters said perforation and provided with a cone-shaped intermediate portion adapted to fit within the outwardly-flared lower end of the. perforation of the first part, means for drawing said parts together longitudinally whereby both angular and relative lateral movement is prevented, a third part pivoted to the secondpart by means of a rule-j oint, and a spring whereby the shoulders of the rule-joint are normally held in contact by spring force, said third part being also provided with a toolholding opening and a cutting-tool adjustably secured therein.

2. The combination, in a tool-post, of two members connected by a transversely-positioned pivot, one of said members being bifurcated and the other provided with a shouldered tongue extending between the portions of said bifurcated end, and a screw mounted in said bifurcated member opposite said shoulder, whereby when the screw is driven completely in rigidity between the parts is IIO secured, while one is enabled to swing relatively to the other when said screw is loosened.

8. The combination, in a tool-post, of two 5 parts united by a rule-joint and having abutting shoulders, the tongue on one member being provided with a second shoulder arranged substantially at right angles with the abutting shoulders, a screw-pin mounted in the other member opposite said last named shoulder, and a spring surrounding said screw-pin and interposed between said shoulder and a shoulder on the screw-pin, said screw-pin being thus adapted to operate directly both upon the spring and upon said shoulder.

4. The combination, in a tool-post, of a tool-holding member composed of two parts pivoted together and having oppositely-posi- 2o tioned shoulders, and a device composed of a spring and a screw interposed between said shoulders whereby the relative movement of the two parts is adjustably limited and controlled, said screw being mounted in one of the parts and thus also adapted when driven home to render said parts rigid with each other.

5. The combination, in a tool-post, of a bifurcated and shouldered member, another member having a tongue fitting within the bifurcated. end of the first-named member and correspondingly shouldered, a pivot uniting said tool members, and means for holding the contacting shoulders yieldingly into contact consisting of a shoulder on said tongue,

a screw carried by the other member adjacent to said tongue and a spring interposed between said tongue-shoulder and the shoul der on the screw.

6. The combination, in a tool-post, of a stationary member, a second member pivoted thereto, said two members being provided with shoulders where they come together which shoulders come in contact when the tool is in working position, a spring interosed between the parts and tending nor mally to hold said shoulders together but adapted to yield as the tool recedes after making its cut, and a screw upon which said spring is mounted and having a shoulder against which one end of said spring bears, said screw being adapted to both vary the tension of the spring and adjustably limit the movement of the tool-holding part.

7. The combination, in a tool-post, of a tool-holding member composed of two parts united by a rule-joint, the tongue on one part being provided with a shoulder, a shouldered screw-pin mounted in the other part opposite said shoulder, and a coiled spring surrounding the pin and interposed between the shoulder thereon and the shoulder on the tongue.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 1st day of August, A. D. 1905.

WILLIAM T. SLIDER. 

